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Sky News AU
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Sky News AU
Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster's extensive relationship timeline revealed through throwback photos over more than two decades
Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster went from Broadway friends to lovers over the course of 23 years. Jackman and Foster's relationship was confirmed earlier this year after months of speculation when People magazine published photos of the couple holding hands on a date night in Los Angeles in January. What appeared to be the start of their whirlwind romance was, in fact, the ultimate culmination of years of being acquainted. Here's a look back at how the Deadpool & Wolverine star, 56, and the 50-year-old Younger actress's friendship blossomed into something more. Decades of dynamic In 2002, Foster and Jackman's careers were on the rise in the Broadway scene. While Foster starred as Millie Dillmount in the musical Thoroughly Modern Millie, Jackman visited her backstage at one of her performances. The actress later won a Tony Award for her act. The following year, Jackman starred on Broadway as the titular role in the hit musical The Boy from Oz. In 2021, Foster took to Instagram to recount their meeting two decades ago through a throwback photo of the pair behind the scenes. "Backstage at Thoroughly Modern Millie almost 20 years ago. Millie and Wolverine. Harold and Marian," she wrote in the caption. Early Broadway days Jackman and Foster were pictured again in 2008 when she starred as Princess Fiona in Shrek: The Musical. The fresh-faced duo documented their encounter backstage with a photo. Foster could be seen leaning slightly towards Jackman. At the time, the Australian A-lister was set to star in several notable projects, including the drama film Australia, alongside Nicole Kidman. He beamed beside Foster in a black leather jacket and shirt. Another of the first photos of Jackman and Foster surfaced on Instagram, showing her placing an affectionate hand on him in 2008. Dance the night away In 2014, Jackman and Foster shared a dance during Jackman's performance at the 68th Tony Awards in 2014. The Greatest Showman star hosted the ceremony at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. He waltzed with the actress throughout the audience while introducing the category for best performance by a leading actress in a musical. Jackman also danced with the other nominees on the glamorous evening. The following day, Foster gushed over the moment on Instagram, writing, "This happened." Broadway buddies In 2019, Jackman and Foster were announced as the leads of The Music Man. The Broadway production saw Jackman as Harold and Foster as Marian. In November 2021, the X-Men star took to Instagram to share a behind-the-scenes look at the production. 'We're coming your way Broadway. And here's a sneak at what we're packing,' he wrote in the caption. Jackman and Foster beamed widely while walking the red carpet together for the opening night in February 2022. An insider at The Music Man said the co-stars did not shy away from showing affection for each other backstage throughout their run. "At intermission, Sutton and Hugh would stand and hug for a minute, two minutes in front of the entire cast coming up the stairs," the source told Daily in January. The Broadway stars performed a number from the show at the 75th Tony Awards in June 2022. While Jackman and Foster were nominated respectively for best actor and best actress, they didn't secure a win. Jackman and Foster wrapped up the musical in January 2023. Double dates The insider also said the Wolverine star and his ex-wife Deborra-Lee Furness, 69, opened their home to Foster and her ex-husband of ten years Ted Griffin for double dates during The Music Man. "They had dinners with each other's spouses and Sutton and her husband Ted were invited over for dinner with Hugh and his wife Deborra-Lee," the source said. Respective separations Jackman and Foster separated from Furness and Griffin, respectively, within a year of each other. In September 2023, Hollywood insiders were rattled when the Deadpool & Wolverine star and Furness ended their seemingly rock-solid marriage of 27 years, jointly revealing they simply grew apart. 'We have been blessed to share almost three decades together as husband and wife in a wonderful, loving marriage,' the former power couple wrote in a statement. 'Our journey now is shifting, and we have decided to separate to pursue our individual growth.' Nearly two years later, Furness filed for divorce from Jackman in New York last Friday. Furness's lawyer Elena Karabatos submitted further filings, which include a health care coverage notice, a proposed qualified medical child support order, a New York state case registry form, the settlement, a proposed judgment of divorce, and a certificate of dissolution of the 27-year union. The exes share two children, Oscar, 25, and Ava, 19. Foster split Griffin, whom she was married to for ten years, last October. They share a seven-year-old adopted daughter, Emily. Head over heels An insider told Page Six Foster and Jackman were "100 per cent together" around the time of her divorce from Griffin. 'They are 100 percent together and are in love and want to spend the rest of their lives together,' the source said. Multiple insiders explained the two were keeping their romance out of the public eye but claimed their relationship was 'common knowledge.' Affair rumours Rumours Jackman and Foster had had an affair gained traction in November 2024 when a friend of Furness spoke out. Actress Amanda de Cadenet claimed the rumours were 'on point' on Instagram 'My beloved friend Deb is about to have her glow up any moment FYI!' de Cadenet wrote. On Wednesday, Furness made a pointed statement about her "traumatic journey of betrayal" after finally filing for divorce from Jackman. She told her "heart and compassion goes out to everyone who has traversed the traumatic journey of betrayal. "It's a profound wound that cuts deep, however I believe in a higher power and that God/the universe, whatever you relate to as your guidance, is always working FOR us," the actress said. "This belief has helped me navigate the breakdown of an almost three-decade marriage. I have gained much knowledge and wisdom through this experience. Even when we are presented with apparent adversity, it is leading us to our greatest good, our true purpose. "It can hurt, but in the long run, returning to yourself and living within your own integrity, values and boundaries is liberation and freedom." Hard launch Foster and Jackman took their romance public in January 2025 when they were spotted holding hands in Santa Monica, California. That same month, photos surfaced of the lovebirds making out in an In-N-Out drive-thru in San Fernando, California. The former co-stars were seen laughing and kissing in a Range Rover. The couple is believed to be moving into Jackman's New York penthouse, which he purchased for USD$21.12 million (AUD $30 million) in 2022 with Furness. According to one source close to the Oscar-nominated who spoke to Closer in February, Jackman 'wants to make Sutton his wife' after recommitting to Foster following a trip back to Australia. The source said the timing of Jackman's official divorce from Furness will impact when he can get married again, but that 'as soon as they are both free and clear, they (Jackman and Foster) want to walk down the aisle'.
The Guardian
27-01-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Hugh Jackman: From New York, With Love review – the showman hits Broadway again
When Hugh Jackman returned to his signature role of the superhero Wolverine last year, it was half a flex and half a retreat. On one hand, Deadpool & Wolverine has since become Jackman's biggest movie ever, with well over $1bn in global grosses, with audiences obviously relishing the revival of the character as much as Deadpool himself did. On the other, Jackman played this part for 17 years before hanging up his claws with the elegiac Logan; going back after that feels like an admission, on some level, that his movie-star career can't function the same way without it. In turn, this makes Jackman's stint of 2025 live shows – two dozen of them through October at Manhattan's Radio City Music Hall, as well as a summer headlining gig at BST Hyde Park in London – part victory lap through the song-and-dance material he clearly loves, and part reassertion of his stand-alone star quality. As the latter, it's admittedly convincing – could many major other movie stars sell out multiple nights at Radio City doing a bunch of Broadway and Broadway-adjacent songs? Though Hugh Jackman: From New York, With Love isn't a literal one-man operation – it employs a small group of back-up singers and dancers and even, on the Saturday evening show, a solo performed by the stage veteran Lauren Blackman – it rests entirely on Jackman's shoulders. He clearly takes the responsibility seriously while attempting to wear it lightly; early in Saturday night's show, he quickly outlined the shape of the approximately 110-minute program ('no encore, no interval') and playfully showed off a handy guide to the locations of the Radio City bathrooms, encouraging people to step out as needed, rather than waiting for the right strategic moment. In other words, the atmosphere was more pop-crooner concert than Broadway revue. The setlist will seemingly change, at least slightly, from show to show, drawing from a pool of musicals that includes The Music Man, Oklahoma!, Les Miserables, The Boy from Oz, and the film sensation The Greatest Showman. The last musical provided a lot of material for Saturday's show; the majority of the soundtrack was played in full, to the delight of the crowd, though Jackman humbly passed on the opportunity to open the set with The Greatest Show (it was played second). A number of Peter Allen songs from The Boy from Oz, meanwhile, were placed together in a medley, providing a bridge to less bombast-friendly numbers. Indeed, it was oddly endearing to watch Jackman try to find ways to pay in-show tribute to projects from outside the musical genre; hence an abbreviated dance routine set to Bye Bye Bye as a kind of sidelong (and, frankly, unnecessary) nod to Deadpool & Wolverine, and, most unexpectedly, a cover of an Alexi Murdoch song featured in the opening of his robot-boxing picture Real Steel. He even offered a preview of sorts for his next film, Song Sung Blue, where he plays part of a Neil Diamond tribute band, by warbling Sweet Caroline in full wedding-reception cheesiness, crowd-supplied 'ba ba ba' and all. In moments like these, Jackman rides a line between charm and smarm, and not every performance on Saturday was equally showstopping. He rattled off Ya Got Trouble from The Music Man with impressive precision, but sounded a little wobbly on You Will Be Found, a number from Dear Evan Hansen – not a Jackman show, mind, but one with songs by Greatest Showman songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. The backstory around some of his choices was often as entertaining as the songs themselves, as when he preceded Stars from Les Miserables with an account of using it to audition for Beauty and the Beast on Broadway and biffing the final soaring note. He also got genuinely, touchingly choked up remembering his late father. Fans, then, will likely come away from the show satisfied with Jackman's razzle-dazzle energy and relentless positivity. But as impressive a feat as this is, it still feels like an incomplete picture of the man's talent. Just as any additional Wolverine movies will likely hit the same notes as the earlier ones, a show like From New York, With Love is more feature-length encore than innovation, and one that must naturally subtract some of the versatility that makes Jackman such a dynamic performer. Some of his best work, in movies like Bad Education and The Prestige, has nothing to do with comic-book spectacle or soaring melodies. Few actors could sustain a hybrid residency and concert tour – but if more of them could, we'd probably get fewer great movies and shows from them. Still, we should let Jackman and his most devoted fans have this moment of triumph. It may be a placeholder, but it's also a reminder that Jackman's dazzling talent is far from spent. Hugh Jackman will perform on Broadway on dates until October and headlines BST Hyde Park on 6 July
